Senate Panel OKs Linda McMahon for SBA

WASHINGTON — The Senate Small Business Committee has approved Linda McMahon, cofounder and former CEO of TV wrestling empire WWE, as the administrator of the Small Business Administration.

While Tuesday was filled with moves to block President Donald Trump's cabinet picks, the vote for McMahon was 16 to zero and her nomination now goes to the Senate for a vote with the recommendation of the committee for confirmation.

Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), House Small Business Committee chairman, praised the move.

“As Linda demonstrated in her hearing last week, she will be a tremendous advocate for our nation’s 28 million small businesses and the absolute right person to lead the SBA," said Chabot.

At that Jan. 24 hearing, McMahon told the panel that as an entrepreneur, she had shared the experiences of small business owners, “the engines of our national economy,” while putting food on the table or braces on their children’s teeth.

She said she would advocate on their behalf if confirmed and said she was proud of growing WWE into a global business and knew what it was like to “take a risk on an idea.”

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.